1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic content delivery and more specifically to inferring a user's mood for use in a targeted content delivery system.
2. Introduction
Targeted content delivery has long been an accepted means of conveying a desired message to an audience. Instead of creating a single message and delivering it to every member of the general public, a content provider would prefer to identify a segment of the population that is likely to have the greatest interest in their message. One technique often used to segment a population is to identify individuals whose characteristics satisfy a target demographic for a particular item of targeted content. However, even though an individual's overall profile indicates that the individual is likely to be receptive to the targeted content, there are many other factors that can affect an individual's responsiveness at a particular point in time. For example, if an individual is pre-occupied or unhappy, the individual may not be as receptive to certain types of content.
While the development of digital content delivery has enabled new techniques for identifying user characteristics, the user characteristics are often focused on a more general understanding of an individual's interest in targeted content. This can lead to periods of time where the targeted content delivery is misaligned, thereby resulting in decreased satisfaction for both the content provider and the content receiver.